Spartans come back
Strong finish lifts St. Kitts into win column in junior B lacrosse; Gens suffer lopsided loss at home
Calling up midget-aged players has become common place in many sports.
But when the player getting called up is a goaltender, and said goaltender gets the start in a game, it adds a little more credence to the transaction.
That’s why St. Catharines Spartans general manager Chris Spiers was smart when he called up Troy Holowchuk last season to make his first career junior B start.
Spiers knew the 16-year-old from St. Catharines would be leaned upon heavily this season.
And the Laura Secord Secondary School student was brilliant in the Spartans home and season opener Saturday night at Merritton Centennial Arena making 44 saves and adding two assists as St. Catharines battled back from a 5-1, second-period deficit to defeat the Owen Sound North Stars 11-8.
“I trusted the team in front of me,” said the humble Holowchuk, who also played for Team Ontario in 2016.
“I was nervous in the first (period) but I knew they (the team) would step up and they did. That was a huge comeback win for us.”
Holowchuk made 16 stops in the first frame as the North Stars opened a 4-1 lead.
Then, just 19 seconds into the middle stanza, Owen Sound would make it 5-1.
However, from then on the Spartans took over. St. Catharines would score five straight goals in just more than 10 minutes time to take a 6-5 lead, and led 8-6 after 40 minutes.
“It all starts with Troy in the net,” Spartans head coach Rob McKibbon said. “Both our goalies can pass the ball, and stop the ball. I’m quite confident with him, and both our goalies this season.
“But the thing is, we never gave up, and got better and better each period.”
Despite being only 16 in a league in which players can be as old as 21, Holowchuk knows he’s an important piece at the back end of the floor for St. Catharines.
“I feel the goalie should always have and take a leadership role, both on and off the floor,” he said.
“We have a lot of leaders on this team, and that’s really helpful for all the young guys coming up on just how to play junior B lacrosse.”
While Holowchuk was doing his thing between the pipes, Cree Blakely and Kealan Pilon were doing theirs on the offensive end of the floor.
Blakely, playing in his last season of junior lacrosse, scored twice and added six assists, while Pilon, in his second year with the team, netted four goals and assisted on two others.
“Both those guys will be playing both junior A and junior B this season,” McKibbon said. “But to have them both to start the season with us — we’re lucky to have them.”
The Spartans host the Hamilton Bengals Friday. Game time at Merritton Centennial Arena is 8 p.m.
“We have to continue to make good decisions, and not run into double teams,” McKibbon said.
“We have a transition game that we laid out but didn’t get to use it properly tonight. We have to get back to practice this week.”
Holowchuk agreed with his coach.
“We definitely have to work on our transition,” he said. “We picked things up in the third period tonight, and will have to continue that for our next game.”
Northmen 24, Generals 5
Unlike the Spartans, their regional rivals, the Welland Generals started their season and home opener against the Orangeville Northmen with a strong first period.
In fact, team captain Brandon Porga staked the Generals to a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 8:31 into Sunday night’s game at Welland Generals before the defending Founders Cup national champion replied with four goals of their own.
But Zach Main and Sam LeClair each scored an even-strength goal less than a minute apart to cut the deficit to 4-3 heading into the second period.
That would be as close as the Generals would get. Orangeville reeled off nine goals in a row to open the second period, including three on the power play and three while playing shorthanded, before Bailey Fournier-Higgins got Welland back on the scoreboard.
Any momentum from his evenstrength marker was shot-lived as the Northmen scored with 14 seconds left on the clock to take a 14-4 lead after 40 minutes.
The third period played out just like the second, with Orangeville outscoring Welland 10-1 and, once again, especially dominant on special teams. In addition to going 5-for-5 in the period on the power play, the Northmen found the back of the net with an extra attacker on the floor.
Fournier-Higgins’ second of the night rounded out the scoring for the Generals.
Orangeville outshot Welland 65-36 and finished the game 9-for-8 on the power play, as a goal was scored on a delayed penalty with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker.
Welland was 2-for-6 with the man advantage and won 11 of 32 faceoffs in the game.
Generals starter Nick LaBrash allowed 18 goals on 53 shots before being replaced by Justin Rombough who surrendered six goals on 12 shots the rest of the way.
Welland plays the Six Nations Rebels on the road Friday before hosting the Spartans Sunday. Game time at the main arena is 7 p.m.
The Niagara Thunderhawks open the regular season at home Thursday against Six Nations. Faceoff at Meridian Credit Union Arena in Niagara-on-the-Lake is set for 8 p.m. — with files from Bernd Franke, Postmedia Network